Exactly what he needed
by justlovebt
Summary: Sweetjamielee s Plan B summer ficathon prompt by Demoka; Eli, Elsbeth. Eli needs something, but instead finds himself in a confusing conversation with Elsbeth.


**Title:** Exactly what he needed  
**For:** Demoka`s prompt: Eli, Elsbeth  
**Disclaimer:** *Throws hands up in the air* I don`t own, just borrowing.  
**Author:** Bepatientimadoc AKA justlovebt  
**Fandom:** The Good Wife  
**Word Count:** ~900  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** Eli is stuck in a conversation with Elsbeth about high-school and prom-queens

**A/N: Sweetjamielee`s Plan B Summer Ficathon: Come, read, prompt, write. **

**Demoka; thank you so much for this prompt, I LOVE IT**

**Sabrina/StrawberrySab; I appreciate your kindness and keen eye for proofreading! Thanks!**

**My bumblebee: There are no words to express my feelings, thank you for your encouragement, cuteness and for always putting up with me**

**Exactly what he needed.**

He stepped back in to the conference room and blinked at the sight of its emptiness. Just moments before, when he had taken a call, the meeting had seemed to be in full progress, but, obviously, things had been wrapped up quickly in his absence. He blinked again when he heard the soft grunt, followed by a rustle of papers, and as he turned around he had to suppress a moan himself. He supposed he had to be grateful for the redheaded lawyer. She had, after all, played a big role in the release of his biggest client. Nonetheless she always made him feel uncomfortable. Her fleeting eyes, however, had already caught sight of him, and he returned her bright smile with a more reserved one.

`Where is Kalinda?`

Looking around, as if the in-house investigator had been hiding under the table and would now come crawling out, Eli realized he was only doing so to avoid eye contact. Sighing he resigned, bringing his gaze back to her.

`Kalinda?`

Her eyebrows frowned before they were lifted up in recognition.

`Oh of course, Kalinda. She is gorgeous, isn`t she? I mean, she always reminds me of the guys I used to want to date in high school. Not that she is a guy, of course. And well, they never wanted to date me anyway…`

Suddenly seeming to remember something, Elsbeth started to search, once again, through the papers in her bag. To his surprise, and horror, the redhead began to empty the contents of the leather pouch, pressing papers and attributes he wasn't sure he wanted to know the function of, in his arms.

`Of course, they always fluttered around the prom queen. I don`t think Kalinda would have made prom queen though… No… No, too much of a bad girl.`

He let his eyes longingly wander to the door, before looking at the pile of paper in his hands. How was it possible that so much stuff came out of such a small bag? How was it possible that he, Eli Gold, a man priding himself in his ability to manage a crisis, had gotten himself into this situation? He sighed when her hands stilled, hoping she had found what she had been looking for.

`I`ve always liked the glass in this building. Yes, I did. Maybe I could consider… But no… Better not.`

He bit his lip in an attempt to keep his frustration under control, but she saw it and smiled again, before returning to her search. This time, unfortunately, on the other side of the bag. Paperclips and post-its were stuffed into his hands as he stood there, helpless.

`Were you prom-king? I bet you could have been. You`d look good in a crown. You`d like it too, I`d say.`

She smiled brightly again, her tone had not changed from her usual slight-distracted soothing one. And, surprised, he found she had not meant the last sentence as a jest, but simply as an observation. Before he had a chance to answer her question, however, she had broken the eye-contact and mumbled on again.

`Alicia, now there you have a prom-queen. Popular, witty and with a sense of what to say and what not. Yes I bet she would have been like a magnet…`

Once again the broad smile adorned her face, before she turned and frowned. Then, she laughed again, and her eyes lit up. The fast changing of her expressions reminded him of a kaleidoscope, and made him dizzy.

To his surprise, suddenly the woman sat down, took off her shoe and pulled a paper from the bottom of her heel, in the mean while radiating as if she had just won the Nobel-prize.

She looked at him pensively, while trying to put the shoe back on the wrong foot.

`Do they validate parking here?`

It took him at least 15 minutes to get her to exit, properly dressed and with every last paperclip back in place. 15 valuable minutes he could have spent… Doing what actually? She waved at him with the piece of paper she had finally had stamped at the desk, and he absentmindedly waved back, trying to retrace his steps. Why had he entered the conference room again?

Ah yes, the phone call… He needed someone like Kalinda, someone who could give him insight in the matter. Shaking his head he took out his phone with the intention of leaving the investigator a message to call him.

Kalinda. The bad guy who Elsbeth would have had the hots for in high school, but who would have fluttered around the prom queen, the magnetic Alicia… He started to snigger, but halfway through the sound something occurred to him that made him stop in his tracks.

Allowing his eyes to follow his -or rather HER- mind he looked into Alicia`s office.

As he saw the person who accompanied the State Attorney`s wife, his mouth fell slightly open. The investigator`s eyes lingered, a little too long, over Alicia`s face. He quickly looked back at the place where the redheaded lawyer was disappearing, and shook his head.

How in the name of…?

He hesitated only for a moment, his eyes alternating between the woman he had been looking for and the one who had lead him to her, before taking his decision. The first right one, he knew, he had taken in a very long time.

Kalinda could wait.

First, he was going to get exactly what he needed.

THE END


End file.
